Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and Penge)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made an assessment of the adequacy of the eligibility criteria for people with long covid to access (a) Universal Credit and (b) Employment and Support Allowance.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has been made.
People living with a condition arising from exposure to the Covid-19 virus can access the financial support that is available through Statutory Sick Pay, Universal Credit, New Style ESA or Pension Credit depending on individual circumstances.
Disability benefits such as Personal Independence Payment or Attendance Allowance do not include or exclude by condition, instead they look at the needs arising from a long-term health condition or disability. Therefore people living with a condition arising from exposure to the Covid-19 virus are also able to access these benefits in the same way as other people with long-term conditions or disabilities.
Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and Penge)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Disability Action Plan, published in February 2024, what steps his Department is taking to help with the extra financial costs associated with disability when standing for elected office.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to PQ15196 on 29 February.
Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and Penge)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department provided Lewisham Council with an impact assessment on the discontinuation of funding for the Household Support Fund from March 2024.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The government is providing an additional £500m to enable the extension of the Household Support Fund, including funding for the Devolved Administrations through the Barnett formula to be spent at their discretion. This means that Local Authorities in England will receive an additional £421m to support those in need locally through the Household Support Fund.
The funding will be available to Local Authorities in England from 1 April 2024 and will run until 30 September 2024.
Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and Penge)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an assessment of trends in the level of accessible school-aged childcare on the number of parents returning to the workforce.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has been made by this department.
The Government recognises that childcare can affect parents’ decisions to take up paid work or increase their working hours. That is why, as announced at the Spring Budget, we are investing billions in additional childcare support for parents of toddlers, investing in wraparound childcare in schools, and increasing financial support for, and expectations of, parents claiming Universal Credit.
Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and Penge)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made for the implications of his policies of the Women in Prison’s report on the Value of Women’s Centres which noted that investing in Women's Centres could generate a nearly triple return on investment; and if his Department would contribute to a cross-departmental fund for such an investment.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government appreciates the important role women’s centres play in supporting women in the community with complex needs, including supporting ex-offenders to address the underlying causes of their behaviour, as set out in this report.
The benefits of work for ex-offenders are far reaching and that is why DWP already invests significant funding for over 200 prison Work Coaches who provide employment and benefit support in prisons. Our extensive network of Jobcentre Work Coaches also provide tailored employment support to ex-offenders in the community.
The Ministry of Justice is investing up to £24 million in women’s community services that aim to both support the sector in delivering vital services and to promote better local integration in how those services are delivered. The effectiveness of their funding for women’s community services will be evaluated and inform future funding decisions across Government.
Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and Penge)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the suitability of the 26-week period of employment required for expectant mothers to qualify for statutory maternity leave; and whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of reducing that qualification period.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Statutory Maternity Leave (SML) is a “day one” right. This means that all employed women are entitled to 52 weeks’ SML if they are pregnant or give birth, provided they give their employer the correct notice.
To qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP), a woman must have been continuously employed by the same employer for at least 26 weeks when she enters the 15th week before the week her baby is due. Once a woman has qualified for SMP, her employer must pay it to her even if she subsequently leaves their employment or is made redundant.
These criteria is designed to achieve a balance between the needs of the employer and those of a pregnant employee, ensuring that a woman has made a reasonable contribution towards her employer's business before that employer is required to administer Statutory Maternity Payments, and bear a proportion of the cost.
There are currently no plans to change the qualification period for SMP.
Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and Penge)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent progress her Department has made on tackling child poverty.
Answered by Will Quince
Throughout the pandemic, our priority has been to protect incomes, including additional spending of over £7.4 billion last year, to strengthen welfare support for people of working age.
The evidence shows having parents in work is the most effective way of tackling child poverty, which is why we have invested £407 billion in protecting jobs throughout the pandemic, and why we are spending over £30 billion on a comprehensive plan for jobs to help people back into work
Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and Penge)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent employment support her Department is providing to people with learning disabilities to find jobs they are able to apply for and secure employment.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
DWP has a range of initiatives to support disabled people, including people with learning disabilities, to stay in and enter work. These include the Work and Health Programme, one-to-one support and training through the Intensive Personalised Employment Support programme, Access to Work, Disability Confident and support in partnership with the health system, including Employment Advice in NHS Improving Access to Psychological Therapy services.
In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, we have provided specialist employment support remotely, and made programmes easier to access.
Disability Employment Advisers support DWP colleagues by developing their skills to understand the interaction between individuals, their health and disability and employment, to help them to provide more personalised support, tailored to each claimant’s individual needs. They proactively share knowledge and information with work coaches about health and disability, national and local provision, services, training and employment opportunities.
Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and Penge)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what (a) assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on employment opportunities for people with learning disabilities and (b) recent steps his Department has taken to ensure that people with learning disabilities can still access employment opportunities during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
DWP has a range of initiatives to support disabled people, including people with learning disabilities, to stay in and enter work. These include the Work and Health Programme, one-to-one support and training through the Intensive Personalised Employment Support programme, Access to Work, Disability Confident and support in partnership with the health system, including Employment Advice in NHS Improving Access to Psychological Therapy services. In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, we have provided specialist employment support remotely, and made programmes easier to access.
Disability Employment Advisers support DWP colleagues by developing their skills to understand the interaction between individuals, their health and disability and employment, to help them to provide more personalised support, tailored to each claimant’s individual needs. They proactively share knowledge and information with work coaches about health and disability, national and local provision, services, training and employment opportunities.
Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and Penge)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of statutory sick pay in covering individual weekly living expenses; and if she will increase the value of that pay to the European average during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The current Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) rate is the legal minimum rate that an employer must pay to an employee; many employers have their own occupational health schemes. Our welfare system is not directly comparable with other European countries. The SSP system is designed to balance support for the individual with the costs to the employer and, as such, there are no plans to make this change. The Government has been clear in its commitment to support those affected in these difficult times and we have made a number of changes to the welfare system in the past fortnight to ensure people are supported in doing this. These changes include:
Together, these measures represent an injection of over £6.5 billion into the welfare system.